Get content of an ArrayCollection - symfony

Question

I would like to upgrade my symfony 2 project from 2.3 to 2.7 LTS version. I have a problem in a repository to get result of a query. In 2.3, this query give me something :
public function findProtectedPublications( $steps, $start, $end)
{
$query= $this->getEntityManager()
->createQueryBuilder()
->select('d.pubRefs')
->from('ImpressionDemandBundle:Event', 'h')
->innerJoin('h.demand','d')
->where('d.protectedPublications = :pub')
->setParameter('pub', 1 )
->andWhere('h.date >= :start')
->setParameter('start', $start )
->andWhere('h.date <= :end')
->setParameter('end', $end )
->andWhere('h.stepId in (:steps)')
->setParameter('steps', $steps )
->orderBy('d.id','ASC')
->getQuery();
$results = $query->getResult();
$publications = array();
if ($results && ! empty ($results)){
foreach($results as $result){
$pubs = $result['pubRefs'];
if ($pubs && ! empty($pubs)){
foreach($pubs as $pub){
$publications[] = $pub;
}
}
}
}
return $publications;
}
But this code doesn't work in earlier version because $pubs variable in an ArrayCollection. So I changed the end of my code with this :
$results = $query->getResult();
$publications = array();
if ($results && ! empty ($results)){
foreach($results as $result){
$pubs = $result['pubRefs'];
var_dump($pubs);
if (! $pubs->isEmpty()){
$arrayPubs = $pubs->toArray();
foreach($arrayPubs as $pub){
$publications[] = $pub;
}
}
}
}
return $publications;
In this part, when I dump the $pubs variable, I have :
object(Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection)#131 (2) {
["elements":"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection":private]=>
NULL
["_elements":"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection":private]=>
array(1) {
[0]=>
object(Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication)#125 (5) {
["editor":"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":private]=>
string(24) "Journal Le Monde 4-10-13"
["coauthors":"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":private]=>
string(12) "Machin Machin"
["title":"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":private]=>
string(57) "La tragédie de Lampedusa: s"émouvoir, comprendre, agir."
["nbPages":"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":private]=>
float(1)
["nbCopies":"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":private]=>
float(40)
}
}
}
So it seems that there are elements in this ArrayCollection, but the test $pubs->isEmpty() gives a true result, so I have nothing in $publications array.
Edit: In fact, the problem seems to be due to my data in the database : for an object previous from my upgrade, I have something like this in the database :
O:43:"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection":1:{s:54:"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection_elements";a:1:{i:0;O:42:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":5:{s:50:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationeditor";s:5:"BREAL";s:53:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationcoauthors";s:5:"MONOT";s:49:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationtitle";s:18:"USA Canada mexique";s:51:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\PublicationnbPages";d:150;s:52:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\PublicationnbCopies";d:150;}}}
and this gives the error.
For a object add after my upgrade, I have something like this in the database :
O:43:"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection":1:{s:53:"Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollectionelements";a:1:{i:0;O:42:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publication":5:{s:50:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationeditor";s:8:"dfg dfgd";s:53:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationcoauthors";s:7:"dfg dfg";s:49:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\Publicationtitle";s:5:"fdg d";s:51:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\PublicationnbPages";d:5;s:52:"Impression\DemandBundle\Entity\PublicationnbCopies";d:3;}}}
and the function findProtectedPublications() works without errors.
The difference between the two versions is ArrayCollection_elements for the first and ArrayCollectionelements for the second.
To correct this data, I tried with
UPDATE demand SET pub_refs = REPLACE (pub_refs, "ArrayCollection_elements', 'ArrayCollectionelements')
but this doesn't work because of special chars. Trying with
UPDATE demand SET pub_refs = REPLACE (pub_refs, "ArrayCollection�_elements', 'ArrayCollection�elements')
doesn't work better. How can I correct this data ?

Answer 1

Doctrine can populate results as an Array instead of an ArrayCollection, simply change the getResult() call to:
$results = $query->getResult(\Doctrine\ORM\AbstractQuery::HYDRATE_ARRAY);
This would be the most efficient way to complete your task however you could also use ArrayCollection's built-in toArray() method to convert its own data to array format:
$publications = $results->toArray();

Answer 2

As the problem seems to be due to a change in the storage of ArrayCollection in database between 2.3 and 2.7 version of symfony, I created an line command to update these in database.